The Phantom Flame's Wielder
by Zuzu Bailey
Summary: Bailey Reed is only trying to live through another day in a zombie infested world. Can she survive by herself? Or will she find a group to be with?
1. Chapter 1

I'm on my computer downloading music onto my iPod, Illegally, but that's not the point. It takes so long to get all 486 songs onto it but I guess I have to just deal with it. While waiting for it all to download, I pick my iPod and buy more books with the gift card I've been saving up a year for.

It was 150 dollars. Most people would've spent it on something more practical and useful but I love reading and writing so usable my money for those kinds of things. I have my notebook next to me with my book I'm writing in it.

I go into the iTunes Store and buy I few books I've been waiting to buy for a while. I buy two series of books.

"Bailey! Dinner's ready!" My mom yells from downstairs. I quickly get out of my chair and speed down the stairs. The smell of spaghetti fills my nose. I hate spaghetti. My dad also wrinkles his nose when he comes down.

"Out of a can?" I ask. My mom shrugs. She was never that good at cooking. My dad was a good cook and I favored his cooking over my moms any day, but tonight he was too lazy to. He looked at me and we nodded in agreement about what would happen next.

"We'll I'm going to take Bailey to the library," my dad says, "she's been bugging me nonstop about it anyway."

"That's good because there really wasn't enought for all four of us to begin with," my mom gives a plate to my smaller sister, Rose. Rose was only five, but certainly acted younger. She still refused to eat unless someone fed her.

My dad ushered me out the door and we got into his car. He started it and we sped off.

"So can we go shooting?" I asked my dad while we drove.

He smiled, "where else would we go right now? The library's closed right now."

We do this quite often. Dad takes me gun shooting at a range whenever we're bored. Mom doesn't know but what she doesn't know won't hurt her right?

Sometimes, when I'm at school my dad will pick me up because of "my great uncle Marty died" or some excuse like that so we can go shooting. It was how we bonded, my dad an I. I have a great shot too, with all kinds of guns. Mainly handguns though. Machine guns were a bit too much for me.

We pass someone on the street, they are stumbling everywhere. My dad must've seen it too because he says, "must be some drunk."

My dad ignores it and keep driving. There aren't any cars on this street.

We pulled into the parking lot of the shooting range. Even though it was only five o'clock, the sun was beginning to fall behind the trees and into night. Which meant the place was about to close. But I wasn't concerned because dad works here an he can pull some strings. He's cool like that.

We enter through the side door that's locked away from customers. The door has at leat five locks so no one can get in. It's the supply closet where extra bullets and gun are stored so of course it has so many locks on it. I grab a 22 millimeter and a box of extra bullets and my dad leads me through the building to the range outside. I put up a target of a person on the wooden back and step back 30 feet. I aim at four places: both knees, the center of his chest and his head. My dad stands by me and smirks. I smile and look at him.

"Maybe we should try something new," he suggests.

"A different kind of gun?"

He shakes his head, "no a different kind of combat technique. Hand-on-hand combat."

My dad was in the military for a couple years when he was out of highschool. He seems to think there will be a war in America soon. I don't object because I like going shooting with him. He never talks about his experiences though. Even when I ask.

He takes me back into the supply room ad opens another door into a different room I hadn't been in before. It was filled with all kinds of swords and other blades. I picked up a jagged blade with writing on it. It said "phantom flame" on it. My dad chuckled.

"Of course you pick that one. You really are my daughter," my dad laughs. He picks up a strand of my red hair. "It's said the person who owns that dagger has terrible luck. Their life is riddled with death and blood."

I look at him and he drops my stand of hair, "Who's was this?"

"Mine," he says shortly. His eyes darken, and I assume he's thinking about his memories in the military.

My phone rings unexpectedly and we both are surprised, I see the caller ID is my mom and answer the phone. I put it on speaker so my dad can listen in too.

"Yes?"

"Get home," mom pleads, "there's something in the house!" I hear her scream and the line goes dead.

"Mom!" I scream.


	2. Chapter 2

My dad and I run out of the building to the car. He frantically starts the car and drives into the road. We speed down the street and see more of the weird stumbling people. I get a better look at them I see their faces. They were covered in blood and some were crowding around something. I heard screams coming from the streets.

"D-dad?" I stutter. My heart was beating out of my chest and I was hyperveinilating.

I hear my dad mumble something sounding like "It was only a matter of time." He spoke so I could hear him, "listen, Bailey, I've seen these before, when I was in the military I had to kill them. They aren't people anymore. They're zombies. They feed off of humans and then those humans bitten will turn into them. If you die you'll turn into one of them. You MUST shoot them in their head if you want to kill them. This is why I taught you how to handle weapons."

I nod, not knowing what else to say. Hes been training me for something like this for my whole life. it all makes sense now. He pulls into our driveway and jumps out of the car. I follow him and we get into the house. He grabs the baseball bat right by the door. My mom screams and we run to her voice. The smell in here is of blood and something rotting.

She's in the kitchen on the floor, holding her shoulder . There's blood on her hands covering her wound. Moms crying. She never cries.

If she's bit then we have to kill her.

"Honey, where is it?" My dad asks calmly. Mom lifts her hand off her shoulder and points in the closet. My dad nods and kisses her forehead. He heads over to the closet. I hear groans coming from the closet. My dad quickly opens the closet and hits the object in the closet without giving a seconds thought. His eyes widen and tear up. I come over to what he sees. Behind the door was a woman about my parents' age. Her face is deteriorated and covered in fresh blood. Te smell is terrible. But that's not why my dad was crying.

It's my sister. Her guts are spilled out on the woman and her bones are visable. a blood pool surrounds them. So much red. I feel vomit in my throat. I shove it back down and ball my shaking hands.

"She won't turn," my dad says."Her brain is damaged from the bite."

I turn around to look at my mom. She's too still. Her head is hung at an uncomfortable angle. Red stains her shirt and body. My dad puts his hand to her neck, to take a pulse.

"She's dead," my dad says. He turns around and hugs me tightly. I'm in disbelief, in less than two hours half my family is dead. My eyes are wide and non blinking, but tears cloud them and I blink, realizing this is really happening. My mom is dead. My sister is dead.

"Go get a new pair of clothes. And something small that you can keep. We'll be constantly on the road, so don't take too much."

I run upstairs into my room and grab my iPod. It's small. I put it on my bed and go through my drawers for something else to wear besides shorts and flip flops. I grab my combat boots and skinny jeans, along with a tight tank top and my leather jacket. I put my red hair up into a high ponytail. I hear a thud downstairs, and know it was my dad taking care of my mom so she wouldn't turn into one of those things. I grab the charging cord for my iPod and put it and my iPod into my pocket with a pair of earbuds. I keep my phone too an grab its cord charger. My field hockey stick is by the door, and I contemplate whether or not I want to take it. It could be used against the things, so I do take it. I go back down the stairs with my field hockey stick in hand and look at my dad expectantly. He has a backpack filled with cans of food from the pantry and cereal emptied in a big plastic bag.

"We're going back to the shooting range for guns. This is now the apocalypse, and we need protection."

I nod, and we head into the car. On the way out I grab the solar charger, for electronic devices. My dad notices and says:

"Good idea, Bailey."

We head into his truck, and He quickly starts the car. A small group of the zombies comes after the car and I holdin a scream as one plants itself on the windshield. We begin to drive, causing the zombie to fall off and get run over buy the tires. We make a quick stop by the gas station, where there are many dead people walking around. My dad and I run over a few zombies to kill or at least wound them. He tells me the plan.

"Go in and grab cans of food and fill this bag," he gives me a different empty backpack, "I'm going to fill the extra tanks of gas in the back so we have more. If you see one of them, kill it with that," he points at my field hockey stick, "get duct tape, thick magazines, and lots of water. Carry as much as you can act out here and scream my name ONLY of you absolutely have to. They're attracted to sound."

"Got it," I say. opening the door, I jump out and run into the parking lot.

I can do this, right?


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors note: Hey I'm new to all this. Excuse my bad grammar I'm Doing all of this on my ipod with google docs and it might not be that grammatically correct. Sorry if my fanfiction sucks but plz review, ask questions and tell me what to work on besides the above stuff. Thanks!**

When I'm in the parking lot, lots if the zombie look over at me and chase after me. I'm stuck in place from fear for a split second, but then I grip my field hockey stick and hit with full force. Dark, rotting blood covers my stick. I find it comical, I used to use this for recreational purposes, now it's used for killing. I laugh out loud while I kill the next one. I turn left and right, I'm going crazy aren't I? When there's none left, I go into the building, and shove my stick into the handles. A few of them come over and try to get in. They seem to not be that smart.

This place has already been emptied of some things and blood is on the floor. I grab a broken bottle with jagged edges off the ground as a temporary weapon. I hurry and fill my bag with the remaining cans of food. Most of them are things like corn and soup. Walking over to the refridgerated drinks, I grab countless bottles of water and stuff the bag.

I hear a groan from behind the counter and look from what I'm doing. Putting down the bag, I go over to the noise and look over stealthily. I zombie is eating the clerk. I go around the counter and when the zombie doesn't expect it, I hit the bottle on the zombie's head. It goes limp on top of the clerks body.

"Help," the clerk moans.

_He's still alive? What do I do? I can't have him return as one of those things, but I just can't kill him. _

"Just end it," he moans, " I can't take it anymore."

His brown hair is matted with blood. He must have gotten that when he fell.

"I'm sorry," I say to him when I hit him with the bottle too. The bottle shattered, thus causing me to not be able to use it anymore. I look around and find two rolls of grey duct tape. I grab them and a few newspapers. The bag was full now, I couldn't fit anything in it anymore. I go up to the counter, grab a few lighters, a pocket knife, candy bars, and breath mints to stuff into my pockets.

The zombies left the door where I left the field hockey stick. I grab it in my hands, and slowly open the glass door as not to attract attention. I walk out to the car, where my dad had a few zombies around him. There was a gleam of silver in his hand, a knife maybe? He stabbed the zombies in their heads and moved onto the next ones. He was so concentrated and skillful when he moved, which I guess is what he did in the military. I could only imagine how other people are trying to get through this right now. There weren't any cars around though.

A sickening thought came to mind.

Were they all dead?

"Dad?" I called out when there were no more to kill at the moment. I ran over to him.

He smiled, causing age lines to appear, his blue eyes looked tired, "I'm getting to old for this kind of thing," he sighs, "Bailey, we need to go. There's a group of them coming from down the street and we wouldn't be able to handle it. Did you get everything I asked for?"

"And more," I said.

He nods in appreciation

And we get into the truck. The middle seat is where we are putting our stuff. Dad sped off in the night.

"Now we need to go to the shooting range. We might be able to spend the night in the guns room since its really closed off." My dad admits.

"Was it this difficult when you were fighting in the military?" I blurt out. I cover my mouth instantly, "sorry, I didn't mean to say that. Ignore me."

"We'll now that this is happening, you really ought to know," he starts, "when this first started, it was small, it was only in little numbers, maybe ten in a city. But it must've gotten out of hand when I left, or someone droppe the gas bomb somewhere else and it caused everyone to breath it and get infected. In the platoons me and a few of the guys came up with the term 'walkers' for them. The guy's name was Morgan **(lol remember from the first episode? That's what Morgan called them) **he was a good guy. I hope he's doing well. He's got a son around your age."

That was a good name, 'walkers'. I liked it. 'Zombies' felt too cliché.

I don't say anything, leaving us in an awkward silence. We arrived back at the range. There weren't any walkers from what I dad grabbed his keys to the place and we went to the side door again. He wiggled the keys in the locks and opened them. I was ready for a walker with my stick, but one didn't come. We walked inside and grabbed guns and many boxes of bullets. I also asked if I could go into the blade's room. Dad said yes and opened it for me. I looked around for the dagger I found earlier. It was lying where I left it. I grabbed it and a leather holster for it and hooked it on my jeans belt loop. My dad gave me a few different kinds of handguns with holsters to put on my belt.

I will admit it.

I felt badass.


	4. Chapter 4

My dad and I took all of the boxes of bullets for ourselves. Sure it was selfish but right now it's really survival of the fittest and to survive you need resources. We decided it wasn't safe enough to stay where we were so we went traveling on the highway.

He keeps on covering his hand up. And I'm curious of why. There's blood surrounding it but then again he's covered in walker blood. So am I, for that matter. I sprayed a bit of the air freshener in here that my dad had in the truck for the horrid smell.

"Hey, Bailey," my dad said suddenly, do you wanna drive?"

I look at him with a 'what the hell are you thinking' look. He keeps his gaze with me and I narrow my eyes, trying to understand what he's thinking. I shrug, and he stops the truck so we both can switch places. Once we do, I move the seat up to adjust to my height.

"Start the car," he says. I flip the ignition and the car comes to life. I press my foot down to go forward and brakes.

My dad smirks, "not bad for a 13 year old."

I smile in return and keep going down the road. Just to freak my dad out, I make a huge swerve on the road, causing him to go to the side of the car.

"The hell was that?!" He shouts at me. I burst out laughing. It feels normal, and what happened earlier today didn't happen. It still doesn't feel real. It's seems like I've been dreaming.

And now I'm driving a car! Who would've thought, one day I was being a normal teenager, going to school, and all that, then I'm killing walkers with my dad after my mom and sister dying.

A tear came down my cheek. I couldn't believe this happened to them. I shook my head, I can't let weakness show, that's how you'll get killed.

"Bailey, we need to stop," my dad grunted. He had sweat matting his face.

"You were bit weren't you?" I say, my voice shaking. He looks at me with an understanding gaze. "I'm right aren't I?"

"Bailey, it's okay," he says, "I'm fine-," he has a cough attack and blood spits from his mouth.

"Dad!" I shout, and pull over. Tears threaten to fall, " not you too. No..."

"I'm okay, you need to let me out," he says, tears falling from his face too.

We both get out. "Dad when? We can fix this right? I need you dad, you can't die too. I need you. I can't be alone in this world. I can't do it be myself."

"Bailey I need you to do it, just like I told you," he says and starts coughing again.

Tears wet my face, " dad I can't I can't kill you that's too much. Can't I get you medicine or something? Please dad! I can lose all of my family to walkers. You're supposed to be invincible, you were in the military, that makes you invincible." My words were drown in my tears. I've lost too much today. Why me? Why do I have to lose everyone?

"Bailey," my dad says faintly, I look into his eyes and see their color leaving. The blue turned into grey. His skin was so pale. "Do it, or I'll become one of them. Don't let that happen to me."

I nod and bite my lip, so I don't cry anymore. My dads legs give out, and I have to catch him. "Dad..." I pull out the Phantom Flame knife from its hilt. Earlier today, my dad said that this knife was practically cursed. I looked at it. I remember pictures of my dad in his military outfit, he had red hair like mine, but it was all chopped off. Now it was more of a red blond from age.

"Reflexes like a phantom. Hair like flames," my dad says, " that's what makes a Reed descendent. That's why I want you to have that dagger. Have a good life, live it to its fullest."

He grabs my hand and guides it to his forehead. He gives me one last smile before all the light leaves him.

He's gone.

My dad's gone.

I cried so much and I knew I was attracting walkers from all angles but I didn't care.

"Kill me if you want!" I shouted into the air. It was directed for anyone, I didn't even care anymore.

"Little lady?" I hear a voice. I stand up fast and aim my dagger at whoever spoke. It was a man, he had long brown hair and a some type of cross bow in his hand.

"What do you want?" I ask seriously.

"You're attracting walkers," he says a bit frustatedly.

"I don't care," I say.

"We'll I do, because it makes my life a bit harder when you do that," he looks at my dad, " you know 'im?"

"My dad," I say.

He looks at the truck, " that yours?"

"Yeah."

"The name's Daryl," he says, "why don't you come back with me before you die out here? My group's at the prison up ahead. I can drive the truck."

I contemplate whether or not to trust him. He doesn't seem like he's lying, but what if he just wants to take my stuff?

"I'll drive," I say with a dark smile.

**Authors note: I was thinking about how I would introduce Bailey to the whole gang. this just popped in my head because Daryl goes on all kinds of runs frequently, soooo yeah, this happened. Next chapter she's gonna be at the prison, meet everyone else. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Authors note: OMG THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR EITHER REVIEWING,FOLLOWING OR FAVORITING! First review I'm so happy Idc if its a small review but its a review nonetheless so I'm happy. I love to see what you think about my story this is the first time I'm sharing anything I wrote with people. I'm writing a few books and one of them is 180 pages so far... Ya I like writing lol... **

Daryl gives me a skeptical look, but nods. I can tell he doesn't necessarily trust me yet but I expect he will soon.

"You should take care of him before he turns," Daryl says to me. my expression is indifferent, but on the inside I'm crying and afraid. I don't want to show this new person how I'm feeling, he doesn't need to know I'm an emotional wreck right now. I hold my dagger, which I now am calling Phantom Flame because it deserves a title since it was my dads. I kneel on the ground next to my dad. His eyes were still open, and they were turning white.

I closed his eyes, and swiftly put the blade into his forehead. I take it out and flick the blood off it. It felt so wrong to do that, to stab _my own father_ in the face.

I walk away, holding back more images tears.

_i can't cry in front of a stranger. Don't show weakness,._

"Let's go," I say. I can pull off this tough girl act. I have to. Opening the drivers side of the truck, I get in and shove the keys into the ignition and flip it away from me, starting the car.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Daryl asks me. I nod and ask him where to go. He tells me to go down the road a few miles. Its dark on the road. I had to guess it was around 10:00 right now.

It's really quiet between us, so I decide to say, "My name's Bailey."

"Fancy meeting you Bailey," he says sarcastically, in a redneck voice "how did you end up in Georgia?"

I didn't know I was in Georgia already. I thought I was still in Alabama. I keep the surprise to myself and say, "I thought there would be less walkers here."

Daryl looks aghast at how I call them that, "You call them walkers too?"

I furrow my brows in confusion, maybe he knew my dad or that guy Morgan... I shrugged and he appeared to not care anymore. He looks at the bags I have in here that I put in from grabbing supplies.

"You have a lot of stuff," he says, "did you have a large group before now?"

"No," I say honestly, "it was just me and my dad."

"Hey Bailey," Daryl says, "turn here."

I do as he says and turn into the dirt path. I turn on the headlights to see ahead of me. I run over a few walkers while nearing the fence of some huge prison. Daryl asks to stop so he can get out, and I slowly follow him while he walks up to the gate at an unbelievably slow pace. A light from a watchtower glows on us, and Daryl waves at them, telling them he's okay.

Immediately the gate is opened by someone and we get in. I park the truck by a few other cars and get out onto the dirt. I'm greeted by a man with curly dark brown hair and a smaller boy with a sheriff's hat. He had longer dark brown hair and the same blue eyes as the older man. I assumed they were related. Another woman who had to have been late in pregnancy, came up to the man with curly hair and whispered something in his ear while looking at me and left.

_Were they all related?_

"Daryl who's this?" The curly hair man asks, getting me back to real time.

"Her name's Bailey, I found her on the road with a truck and thought she needed a place to stay. Can't just leave 'er right?" Daryl replies. So this curly haired man seems to be the leader.

But how many are in the group?

While the men begin to talk I look at the younger boy. He looks back at me. I take a step closer to him when he holds his hand out.

"I'm Carl Grimes ," he says, "that's my dad, Rick."

"Bailey Reed," I say, gripping his hand tightly. i shake it and let go. Carl looks at his dad when he says his name.

"Carl," Rick says, "take Bailey into the cell block, introduce her to Herschel and the rest," then he directs his attention to me, "Can i have your weapons? It's only a precaution, once we know you're ok I'll give them back."

I take off weapons belt and give him my two knives and two guns. I keep Phantom Flame on me though.

"I can share all of my stuff with you. go search me truck i dont care, but I keep this dagger at all times, no exceptions," I say shortly. Rick looks skeptic, but nods and lets me leave.

Carl takes me into the prison. I notice all of the fence lining the outside of the place. It's safe, I'll give it that much, but for how long?

"How many people do you have here?" I ask Carl.

"More than 7," he answers. He takes me into a room with multiple people, and they all look up at me. When I look at the group I notice all of their differences. There was an older man with a white beard who had a comforting smile, I already liked him.

"Who are you?" A girl in her early twenties asks me.

"Hi," I say, not directing it to anyone, "I'm Bailey."


	6. Chapter 6

After I introduced my name to everyone, I was bombarded with all of their names. Maggie, Glenn, Herschel(who had half of his leg missing), T-Dog, Beth, Carol.

"So where were you before this all happened?" Glenn asked me.

"I was in Alabama, it had just gotten bad there so my dad and I left to find a safer area. I guess we were heading in the wrong direction, because its even worse here."

They nod but don't say anything. I see the old man-Hershel- get up with crutches. One of his legs is a stump and I wonder how he could even live through that without any hospital here.

"I'm going for a stroll," Hershel says, "I want to get used to these."

Maggie gets up, "okay ill go with-,"

Hershel shakes his head and smiles at me, "How about I take the new girl around?"

"What if she's dangerous?" Maggie objects.

"She's a little girl, I really doubt she'll try to hurt me," Hershel chuckles.

"First of all," I say, "don't talk about me like I don't exist. Secondly," I look at Hershel, "don't call me little girl, I can drive," I say proudly, "and lastly, I wouldn't kill the living unless in pity. We need the living to keep the population going."

"You see?" Hershel says, "we can trust her."

I smile in appreciation. At least someone trusts me. The other still seem wary, but overlook it.

I walk with Hershel down the cell block.

"You said you were traveling with your dad," he notes, "did something happen to him? And why about the rest of your family?"

I felt like he was prying, but Hershel didn't seem to be demanding the information, just asking out of curiosity, that's why I answer him.

"Me dad and I were out shooting this evening, and my mom called saying something got into the house. When we go there, my mom was bit and my little sister was dead. My dad killed the walker who caused it and my mom. My sister was too eaten to rise. We were going to a few places to pick up supplies when my dad was bit. I put him to rest when Daryl found me."

I had just told him everything. And all he says back is, " that's a lot for a single girl to go through in a single day. So this was your first time finding out about walkers?"

"Yeah, but everyone my dad and I came across were dead. Our city is small and weak, so it didn't really suprise me. My dad aid he had saw these when he was in the military, he said that they were only in small groups and were containable then. I guess it got out of hand and now is sweeping the country," I finish.

He keep walking, and he stops suddenly.

"Here's your cell," Hershel says, "if you need anything, Carl has the cell next to you."

I nod in thanks and enter my new home. There are two bunks, both empty. The bottom bunk has a bloodstain on it, no doubt from a walker. I take the top one and lie down. I've got a single pillow and a sheet. I pull out my iPod and headphones. All I my songs downloaded. It felt like I have been living like this for months, not hours. I hear someone come in the door.

"Here's these back," Rick says and hands me my guns and knives.

"Thanks," I say.

He leaves, and I continue to listen to my music. My iPod is bound to die soon, but that's why I brought a cord so I can connect it to the solar charger. I try to text my friend, Sarah, but there isn't any service.

I put my weapons down on the bottom bunk and think.

This is my life now, without any of my family. I cry softly. They all are gone. My mom, my sister, And my dad.

Rose was way too young to die, why did it have to be her? She didn't deserve to die. Neither does anyone really, but Rose didn't even get a chance to live. I miss them. I can't even imagine how I'm going to live without them.

I try to cry it all out in my pillow, all of these emotions. My body shakes with each son and I don't even care. I cry myself to sleep.

When I awake, I think I'm back at home with my parents. I feel the stuff bed and remember I'm in the prison. I get out of bed and drag my hands through my hair. It's too unmanageable. I put my guns and knives back onto my belt and leave the cell.

Walking down the hall I see Carl and catch up to him. There's no one else around my age here except for him.

"Hey," I say, "whatcha doing?"

He doesn't even look at me, "going out to the watchtower."

"Can I come with?" I ask, "I've got nothing better to do."

He shrugs indifferently, so I follow him. He takes me outside and through the grass to the watchtower. We open the door to the tall building and walk up the stairs. Carol was already up there.

She nods at Carl, but looks at me for a moment.

"Hi," I say, "I'm just coming out for a bit to Help out."

She nods an lets me stay.

Carol goes back to her post with the shotgun. She looks around for walkers.

"So what do we do? Just look at walkers?" I ask them.

"We see if there is a grouping of them, and if there is, we'll take care of it," Carol informs me.

I start back down the stairs. Once I open the door I go out the gate and shut it behind me. Carl runs after me and stops when he's at the gate.

"What are you doing?" He shouts at me. Walkers sense me and come near. I smile, this is exactly what I need. I pull out Phantom Flame and stab the walkers when they come too close. A walker fell right in front of my feet and I almost got bit, but I stepped on it with my black combat boots.

This was a beautiful way to vent my anger at the world right now. Maybe twenty walkers came to their demise. They growled at me while trying to get me. I laughed like a maniac. I caught a glimpse of Carl trying to get out of the gate, but his father held his shoulder. He looked like he wanted to come out, but his dad stopped him.

It's not like I needed help, I was just having a bit of fun.

I heard Carl and Rick call out for me but I didn't pay attention to them. I payed attention to the undead in front of me. I cut and slashed, always getting them in their head.

One walker came up to me while I was dealing with two others and knocked Phantom Flame out of my hands. I fell over with the walker on top of me. Carl shouts my name, temporarily distracting me. I instantaneously grab my gun from my side and shoot it, causing it's blood to coat my shirt and part of my face. I hop back onto my feet and shoot the final walkers in the face.

Letting out a sigh, I feel my heart racing from adrenaline. Looking back at Carl and Rick, I notice the anger on Rick's face.

I look around at the walkers for my knife, when i find it in one of their heads, I grab it.

Once I get back to the gate, I ask, "What's wrong? All I did was get rid of the enemy right in front of us."

"That was reckless and stupid," Rick tells me as he opens the gate to let me in. He tells us to get back at out posts, then leaves.

Carl then reprimands me, "You shouldn't have done that. You could've gotten bit by one of them."

"I thought I was helping," I shrug.

He shakes his head and we go back to our posts at the top of the watchtower. I rest my elbows on the railing and place my head in my hands because this was boring. I wanted to go back out there.

**Authors note: Hey I would've uploaded sooner but my computer was being wonky and wouldn't cooperate with me. So I worked on the chapter more and it became longer. I really liked this chapter too haha. I just realized i haven't put in any disclaimers yet. Tell me if you like the longer chapters and thanks for reading my story. :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Forgot about having to do this... I don't own The walking dead or its characters, just Bailey and her family.**

It seems like no one really trusts me, they look at me like I'm a ticking time bomb but I ignore it for the most part.

When Carl's watch time is over we go back inside and see Lori and Maggie help Hershel get down the stairs and into the asphalt. I follow behind them with Carl.  
We are all proud of his improvement, making me think he only got on crutches a little while ago.

"He was bit," Carl whispers to me, "we cut off his leg to stop the infection from killing him."

Why didn't I think of that with my dad? I could've saved him! Now he was dead because he got but on his wrist. He could've been saved...

I walk around on the ground a bit behind Hershel because he seems like the only one here who likes me. Or really talks to me. Everyone else ignores me or avoids me.

Looking out by the gate, I see that it's open and walkers are piling through them.

"Walkers!" Carl and I shout at the same time. I run towards them and try to kill a few off but realize I can't so it by myself and back up with the rest of te group. I see Hershel tries to get up some stairs but walkers are closely following him. He lifts up his crutch and hits a few of them with it, buying just enough time to escape behind that small gate. Carl, Maggie and Lori went in through the door into safety. I go find carol and T-dog and follow them inside the cell block, but while T-Dog and I fight off walkers he manages to get a huge hunk of shoulder chewed off of him. We screams in pain but keeps goin on, trying to keep carol and I safe.

I shoot walkers left and right, and don't even notice when we enter the dark hall. Running to keep up with Carol and T-Dog, I notice how bad the bite is.

"T," I say, " that's a really bad bite."

"I know, I know," he grunts in pain. I dont know if he'll live through this, but i dont tell him that. Carol tries to comfort him and tell him he'll be okay, but it's obvious he doesnt believe her. He looks really bad, with blood oozing down him arm. Carol is worried too, I can tell.

We run through halls away from walkers, and I shoot down any that we see. The lights flicker constantly, causing my sight to keep on having to readjust.  
We turn down a hall with over 10 walkers down it. I try to shoot them but hear a click from my both of my guns.

I have no more bullets left. My heart sinks, because I know that carol ran out too. I forgot to brig extra. My knives cant take out that many all in one area.  
T-Dog gives the two of us a smile before running at them with all he had and he tried to keep them back.

"Go!" He yells, " I can only buy you a little time!"

I look in horror at him as he's being torn apart by the walkers. Carol pulls me along and I try to protest but I come along.

I admire his bravery. I don't know if I could do that, myself. I guess if I knew I was going to die anyway I would try to save as many people as I could.  
We run all of the energy we still have left. A few more walkers follow us and there is a split in the halls.

"We split up," I say. I reach into the holster of one of my weapons and give her a small knife. She takes it, "It's not much but it's all I have. It's better than nothing, right?"

I nod to her and run to the right hallway while she takes the left. Some of them follow me and I'm met with a dead end. The walkers turn around the corner and see me. When they do they stumble faster over and try to get me. My heart beats out of my chest.

Will I die tonight?

This is when I let pure adrenaline take over.

**Authors note: Ahhhhhh! Shit just got REAL UP IN HERE! Excuse my language but its how I feel. This was the scene I've been waiting to write! I'm sorry it's a shorter chapter but it has to be. I couldn't have ended anywhere else or it wouldn't make sense. Sorry for the cliffhanger! But they are just so fun to write**


	8. Chapter 8

**disclaimer: Yea i do not own The Walking Dead... i wish i did tho... **

I don't even remember killing the walkers, just that afterwards I was surrounded in their blood, exhausted. I didn't know how long I had been in here, but I was beginning to get hungry. I reached into my pockets and found tic tacs. I mentally thank myself for not totally emptying my pockets when I got here. They don't do much, but they were better than nothing.

I wonder how carol was doing. Was she back with the group? It was she stranded, like me? I forgot which way was back to the cafeteria and found myself lost and confused. My world whirled and I fell over onto the ground, hitting my head hard. I think I passed out for a bit after that.

Was I just fatigued, or what?

I knew I was tired, but the pain and growling of my empty stomach kept me awake. Never before had I experienced this kind of hunger. I couldn't handle it. I knew I had been in here for at least a day now, and I kept trying to find my way back out, while drifting in and out of consciousness.

I will not let such a petty thing like hunger kill me in this new world.

I hear a few walkers com close, and find another pair of diverging hallways. I use my knife and make a cut along my palm. In one hallway I smear some of the blood from my hand onto the wall to throw them off. I run down the other hallway myself.

I thought about the group for whatever reason.

T-Dog was really brave doing what he did. And that made me respect him a lot more. He barely knew me and saved my life. I won't let his sacrifice be in vain, so I have to live through this.

Hershel was caring and compassionate, he was like a bright light in a dark world. I admire his faith and devotion to the people he loves.

Rick, I didn't know him that much either but he gave me a chance to live. I'll have to thank him later.

Lori seemed like a nice woman. She was living in this world while pregnant. That's pretty strong. I know I couldn't raise a child in this world.

Carol was motherly, she tried to protect who she could. I can imagine she lost people she loved too.

Maggie and Beth, were, Hershel's children. That's all I really know about them. I hope to get to know them better.

Glenn was a wary person, he was curious, but not in the same way Hershel was. He wanted to know what he was dealing with, and how they would affect him.

Carl was kind of cold, but deep down I know he cared about the people here. I liked him because he was fun to hang around. I could tell by the look in his eyes he wants to be a part of all the action too, but isn't allowed to because his parents don't let him. If he and I hung out more, I bet he would get to be in the action more because I was.

My thoughts were interrupted by uneven footsteps. I pull out my knife and weakly take out the walker coming towards me. My vision swirls, and my bloody knife clatters to the floor and I drop down with it, my body absolutely worn out from exhaustion. My eyes droop and I fall into a dreamless sleep.

No ones POV

Carl was distraught. He had to put down his own mother so she couldn't turn. He saw the light in her eyes die out, and he wondered how everyone else coped with it. He hadn't lost any if his family until now. He was considered lucky.

When he and Maggie returned to the rest of the group he noticed T-Dog, Carol and Bailey missing.

Maggie held the baby when she and Carl go back to the others.

His dad came up to him and saw the baby, then asked when his mother was, but Carl kept an emotionless mask on his face while Maggie cried and told him what happened. Rick had a complete meltdown, he cried on the floor and started seeing things.

Carl asked where the three that weren't there were. But Daryl shook his head.

"They're not back yet," Daryl tells Carl, "they might still be in there, which is why I'm going to go look for them."

A few days past and everyone was losing hope to finding them. Carl didn't though, he didn't really believe they were dead. But graves were dug for them and even a small service. Carl still wouldn't believe it. But when he was told T-Dog was found all chewed up by walkers, his positive attitude lowered quite a bit. A day after that, great news was brought and Carol was back. She looked starving and frail when she came back though. She had one of Bailey's knives with her. Carol said she gave it to her for protection, but didn't see her after that.

That made him wonder how Bailey was doing.

He knew she could handle herself with walkers after seeing her fight those walkers outside the gate. He didn't think she was capable of that. No one did. She had only been thrown into this mess a week or two ago.

He was angered how she was free, because his parents kept him on a short leash. He envied her. She looked like nothing could touch her, she looked fearless and brave.

Could she really be like that on the inside, though? Carl knew she had a lot on her plate, with her entire family's death and all. She had to be feeling something right?

_She might be joining her parents soon if we don't find her, _he thought. He shoved that thought out of his mind, _no, we can't lose anyone else. I won't let what happened to Sophia happen again. _

So Carl found Daryl. He asked him if he could go looking for Bailey with him.

"Only if yer dad gives the ok," Daryl replies.

Carl ran down the halls to find his dad. Then he stopped in his tracks when remembering how he was in his depressed mood, and if you even talked to him he'd snap like a twig.

He turned around back to Daryl.

"Back already? Daryl asks.

"My dad said it was okay," Carl lied. Daryl sensed something was up, but saw the determination in Carl's and let him come along.

The two walked stealthily down the halls, and saw a few walkers with knife insidious on their faces.

"Do you think Bailey did those?" Carl asks Daryl.

He inspects the wound, "yeah, it's from her jagged blade, it's only a day or so old."

Daryl sees the Carl's expression brighten and smirks to himself.

_Looks like someone has a crush._

**authors note: yay i really like this chapter i hope you do too. i think the story is a lot better from when it started. i also hope this chapter makes up for the last ****really ****short one. i read the places where my story is being read and my eyes may or may not have jumped out of my face. i didnt know was popular in other countries besides the u.s. so im kind of in awe. remember i love reviews and want to see what y'all think. condtructive critisism helps too. :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead or its characters, just Bailey.**

Daryl and Carl continue going in the halls of the unexplored block. Carl keeps his gun close to him and keeps the flashlight ahead of him in the dark halls.

"I think we should head back," Daryl says while he keeps looking briefly.

Carl, not wanting to go back yet, says, " can I stay and look around a bit more? To cover more ground?"

Daryl thinks its a bad idea, but he reluctantly nods nevertheless.

"Come back in ten minutes," then Daryl mutters,"We don't want your dad to throw a fit again."

Carl nods at Daryl when he leaves and searches some more. He's met with nothing until he sees a group of walkers begin to crowd around something. The dark brown of dried blood covers the deteriorating walkers' faces, they haven't eaten in a while. They're hungry, and will do anything to eat.

He sees a tuft of red hair and immediately jumps into action. Carl pulls out his gun from his side.

He shoots the gun multiple times in the walkers' faces until all of them drop dead for good. He sees one last walker on the sleeve of Bailey's leather jacket trying to bite her and shoots him as well.

He notices she's unconscious and inspects her for bites in worry she might be bit.

When he doesn't find any he checks her pulse on her neck. Her skin is cold, like the halls of the dark and dank place.

Bailey's pulse is faint but still there. He sees a wound on her left hand but notices its a clean, straight wound. That meant it wasn't a walker.

Carl sighs in relief.

_Thank god she's alive_, he thinks. He looks on the ground and finds her knife with the jagged edges. Phantom Flame, he thought she called it. He put it in his empty gun holster, where it wiggled around with the extra space.

He picks her up, and walks her back to the group; His face completely red while doing so. _She's lighter than I thought she'd be,_ he think to himself.

He opens the last door to the cell block where everyone stays, and shouts for Hershel.

"Hershel! Help, it's Bailey!" He shouted in the cell block.

He heard many footsteps including the ones of crutches and knew he was coming.

Carl lay Bailey down on one of the beds and waits for Hershel to help her. He inspects her, and sits back into his creaking wooden chair.

Carl looks at him expectantly.

"No worries," he said, sitting back into a chair, "she's just passed out from fatigue. Which makes sense since she was out in there for so long."

Carol brings in food and water for Bailey when she wakes up. Everyone was relieved to know their newest member was okay.

Once everyone left, Carl sat in a chair next to Bailey. He noticed her take steady breaths, the rise and fall of her chest. He had only met her a week or so ago, and already had developed a liking for her.

He heard her take an extra deep breath, and she opened her bright blue eyes.

**Bailey's POV (it's back to normal)**

Before I even get a chance to take in my surroundings, I feel someone's arms wrap around me. I instantly think its a walker but figure out its just Carl.

Wait.

CARL'S HUGGING ME?!

I feel a huge blush creep up on my cheeks, and I try to hide it.

I hug him back, not realizing how much I missed him.

Wait again.

Why did I miss him? It's not like we were together or something...

"We've been looking for five days for you," he says after letting me go. On a small table, I see a plate of food and water. Carl seems to understand and hands me the plate. I eat the food faster than I probably should have. Carl just stares at me.

I feel a blush creep up my cheeks and try to eat slower and more gracefully, but I'm REALLY HUNGRY. And my head hurts.

"What happened down there?" He asks me curiously.

I try to make it sound easier than it actually was, "Carol and I separated and I was met with a dead end. I took them all head on with Phantom Flame," I pull out the jagged knife but cat find it in it's holster. I furrow my brows in confusion an remember I dropped it before passing out the last time.

Carl reaches in one of his guns holsters and gives me my blade.

"Thanks," I say, "anyway, after I killed them, I got lost in the dark halls and eventually passed out from being tired and hungry. I woke up and kept going, but I drifted in and out of consciousness after that. I don't know how long I was out each time."

I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling loose strands of my hair. I must look like utter shit right now. In front of Carl too.

Great, just great.

I swing my legs over the bed, "Where's Lori? I didn't see her come in."

Carl's face darkens, and I wonder what happened.

"She's dead," he says with the tip of his hat covering his face. I thought I could see tears come down his face.

Instinctively, I put my arms out and hug him. I hear a baby cry.

Did she die during childbirth?

I decide not to ask, because Carl was in this mood.

"I know how it feels," I whisper to him. I can feel his heartbeat in his chest and feel him start to cry harder. It reminds me of how I felt after all of my family died, and I felt tears fall down my cheeks as well. I put my face in his shoulder, and we cry out our loses together silently.

"How about we promise something to each other," I begin, he looks at me and I see him in a more vulnerable way. I must look ten times worse, albeit. "We both have to promise to keep moving on and not let the past ruin us, but make us stronger," I smile.

I get up from my bed, and walk back to the group. "A group was here earlier," Carl says, walking with me, "my dad told them to leave, but he wasn't exactly staring at them, but behind them. He's going insane."

I raise my eyebrows, really? Rick, the group leader, who got this group through hell and back, was losing his cool?

Wow. I'm just, shocked.

I hear distant talking and hurry to join the conversation.

"-Glenn and Maggie'll go" Hershel says, "the baby needs formula, and fast."

"I'm going with them," I interject.

Hershel shakes his head, "you have a concussion and don't need to be moving around too much."

I roll my eyes. Damn concussion and its consequences. I want to leave and help the group, not sit around waiting for whatever to come. I go over by the guns and grab some extra bullets to refill mine. I take the magazine out of the gun and refill it with bullets individually.

I don't care if I'm told no, I'm going anyway.

**Authors note: thank you for giving me some pointers Heartlessly Awesome, I need them. I generally have more details when I write the chapters first, but it takes so long and my book binder is too full, so I'm just typing stuff now. I'm probably not going to be able to update as often.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead **

I head outside, and into the area where all the vehicles are parked. I look around for people so they don't see what I'm doing and bring me back. Jumping into the car I know Glenn will drive with Maggie, I get into the backseat and hide in between the foot areas with a blue blanket on top of me. I wait there until unheard the doors open, with Maggie and Glenn coming in. They exchange small talk, basically asking how each of their days was going, what they needed to get, and where they've covered so far. It was a boring ride, and I'm surprised no one decided to look under the folded dark blue blanket for anything. I was thrusted to the sides of the car when it turned on the abandoned roads.

Trying to keep myself stable so I don't blow my cover, I use the blanket to cushion myself. We come to a stop, and the doors open. I wait a few moments before looking out the window to see where we were without being spotted by Glenn and Maggie. I get out of the red minivan and quietly close the door. I hide behind it for a moment. Taking in my surroundings I notice all of the trash on the ground of the parking lot. There are a lot of abandoned cars collecting dust. I see Glenn open a door and pigeons fly out. They must've been in there for who knows how long.

Both of them go inside the old store and I couldn't see them after that. After about ten minutes, I see them come back out, and Maggie has a shopping crate with her. It's filled with supplies, I can tell. But I see another man come into the scene. Glenn seemed to recognize him, but Maggie was as dumbfounded as me.

"Now where is it where y'all calling people home?" The man asks. I notice he has no hand except for a metal covering with a blade protruding where a hand should be. He points a gun at Glenn and Maggie. Both of them instantly pull each of their guns out, and point then at the man.

"Merle?" Asks Glenn. He almost puts his gun down by keeps it pointing towards him. The man Glenn called Merle starts laughing, and puts his gun down. He starts walking towards Glenn and Maggie.

As not to blow my cover, I slide and hide behind another car.

"Hey!" Maggie yells with her southern accent, "back the hell up!"

He seems on edge, as Glenn does. I try to keep quiet.

"Okay okay honey," Merle agrees his hands up in surrender. _Who is this guy?_

"You made it?" Glenn asks, clearly dumbfounded. Maggie looks over, wondering-like I am- who this guy is.

"You tell me," Merle says with a new attitude, "is my brother alive?"

Glenn waits a moment before responding, "Yeah."

Merle sighs. He smiles but Glenn and Maggie still keep the guns trained on them. I reach for Phantom Flame just in case

"You take me back to him," Merle begins, "and I'll forgive you for everything in Atlanta."

Glenn gazes upon Merle's hand that was gone. Merle notices and says, "ahh, you like that? You see I found myself at a medical warehouse, and fixed it up."

He goes into explaining how he fixes it. When he shuts up, Glenn says, "I'll go back, and tell Daryl to meet you."

Daryl is this guy's brother!? How were they separated?

Glenn's idea obviously angered Merle.

They began arguing about trust. This Merle guy seemed like a variable to me. You can't quite know what he'll do next.

"If you trust us, you stay here," Glenn says simply.

Merle scoffs. He pulls out a gun from his side and shoots it at Glenn and Maggie. They both dodge it and it hits the back window of their car. Glenn runs around but by the time he gets to Maggie she is being held to Merle with a gun to her head.

"Let go of her!" Glenn shouts.

Maggie looks scared, and Glenn infuriated.

I go out of my going spot and Glenn immediately spots me. He ushers me to go back without words.

"Now you're going to get in the car and drive," I hear Merle say. Glenn has to agree because Maggie is still held at gunpoint.

They say other things to each other but I don't catch it. I hide back behind a car, pissed that I can't do anything to help.

Glenn gets into the car, followed by Merle and Maggie. Glenn starts the car and drives off, leaving me all by myself.

Or at least that's what I thought. I was out to grab the basket, but another woman goes out. Her dark skin is covered in blood and guts from a walker, I almost thought she was one for a moment.

"Excuse me!" I yell out to her. She pulls out a sword._ Oh god, what was I thinking. _I run out and notice she's favoring one leg over the other. It must be sprained.

She has a look in her eyes. Like she's seen stuff you couldn't even stomach. She wore a leather sleeveless jacket, jeans and boots. She and I wore similar attire.

"Those people were part of my group," I say, "Can you help me get back to the rest of my group so I can tell them they were taken?"

She looks like she's speculating whether or not to trust me. I guess my luck hasn't run out yet, because she decides to come with me. I grab the basket, and we begin walking down the road back to the prison. She limps, but makes it look like it's nothing.

A couple walkers come into view, and I pull out my knife to kill them. The woman stops me.

"They think I'm one of them," she says after they pass us like we didn't exist. She gestures to the blood and other gore on her. I nod, that's good to know.

We might've walked miles, I couldn't tell, but when I saw the prison grounds, I was very happy I made it home.

Did I just call the prison _home?_

"What did you stop for?" The woman turns around and asks me in the tall grass. I shake my head and we keep walking. There are so many walkers around us. But none of them are coming to kill us. As we neared the gate, I saw Rick and Carl with the baby. Rick gave Carl the baby and came over to us. He looked tired and exhausted.

"Rick," I said, "let us in."

The woman nudged my shoulder. A walker was coming towards us with intent to kill. She pulled out her sword and skewered it in the face. That caught the attention of more of them, and they all were coming at us. I pulled out Phantom Flame and anther smaller blade; a gun would catch even more attention. I sliced at one walker across its eyes and it went down. I saw the black woman struggling to fight them off. One landed on top of her. Her katana lie a foot or so off but I knew he could reach it. Her eyes started to look everywhere.

She was losing blood. She's about pass out.

"Carl!" I shouted, "Help her!"

He nodded at me and I smiled. He began to shoot at the walkers around the woman who helped me get back here. I couldn't let her die. Not another of the living.

I saw thoroughly the corner of my eye, Rick unlock the gate and come shooting walkers. I put the blades back in my belt and grabbed my gun. Carl came out behind the gate and came to my side. We were back to back, shooting at the walkers from all angles.

"We make a good team," I smirk in between shots. I can see him smirk too.

"I guess so."

We stop shooting once there are only a few left to where they aren't a threat. I run over to Rick, who was examining the woman for bites or scratches. Carl comes close behind, with the basket of baby formula.

"She doesn't have any," Rick says. He picks her up over his shoulder and runs behind the gate. We run inside, and Rick tells us to go and get things to help the mysterious woman.

**Authors note: I was trying to do a play by play of the episodes and add Bailey into everything. I hope you guys liked this chapter!**


	11. Chapter 11

**I don't own The Walking Dead**

We brought her into the prison, but Rick stopped and put her down before we reached the cellblocks.

"Rick what are you doing?" I shout at him, "we need to get her into the cell blocks!"

He doesn't even look at me. He looks down at the woman, "we aren't taking her into the cell block," he pauses and tries to get her to wake up.

She stirs around a bit, "what is your name?" Rick asks.

"This isn't the time for first name basis," I tell him.  
She reaches for her katana, but Rick moves it away with his foot.

"We're not going to hurt you, unless you do something stupid first," he tells her.

"Hey," Daryl says to me, "can I talk to you for a minute?"

I nod and exit the cell; Rick and Carl take care of the woman.

"What hell were you thinking?" He hisses at me. I wince, causing him to look a bit apologetic. He sighs, "Look, I'm happy you're back, but do you have any idea how much we've been worried? Especially the kid!" He means Carl, but why does Carl worry about me? He knows I'm capable.

Daryl notices I'm not really listening anymore and stops talking. "Go back to your boyfriend, Bailey."

Daryl smirks at my blushing reaction and let's me back into the cell where the woman was.

Rick was talking to her, "we can fix up your leg and give you some food for when you're done, but you have to tell us how you found Bailey."

"I was coming from some of the stragglers and found her coming from a car with some Asian and a pretty girl."

I interrupted her, "I snuck along with Maggie and Glenn. After they found some baby formula, a man who Glenn called Merle came and took them. I found her," I gestured to the woman, who I don't even know the name of.

"We walked back from the prison from there."  
Rick takes this all in. Then says, "So why did you come back with Bailey?"  
I look at the woman. She looks like she's remembering something not good, "there's a town. Woodbury, it has 70 or so survivors. That's where I believe they were taken. The man who runs the place, calls himself the Governor; he's a pretty boy type."

"Does it haves a military?" Daryl asks behind me.

"Just a bunch of army wannabes. The place is secure, with people lining the walls for walkers, but we could slip in."

Rick scoffs; he knows it couldn't be that easy.

"Anyway," Rick says, "this is Hershel, and he's the father of the girl who was taken. He can fix you up."

And with that, the man left, leaving Carl, Hershel and I with the woman.

Hershel sewed her leg wound together, while Carl and I stood watch. Carl looked like he would pull his gun out I she pulled anything, so I grabbed his hand.

"You can trust her," I whispered in his ear, "she helped me get back."  
He squeezed my hand tighter, "I'm glad you're back."

"Me too."

The woman leaves the room as soon as she is stitched up, unlike Hershel's orders. She goes outside.

I go outside as well, leaving Carl and Hershel. Carl waits a moment before following me.

"What are you doing?" He asks me.

"Going to help and find Glenn and Maggie," I say turning around a corner.  
Carl grabs my wrist and stops me, "no," he says.

"Excuse me?" I say back to him. He isn't the charge of me, he can't tell me what to do.

"Don't go back out there," he almost pleads, "quit going on Suicide missions like my dad. It's like you both don't even want to live anymore. You still have people who care about you."

"Carl," I say, "my mom, dad, and little sister are dead. They died a month ago and you expect me not to be emotional? Your mom died, and you aren't over it," he winces at my harsh words, "so how do you expect me to be over my entire family's death?"

He doesn't reply. He looks down at the ground, "I'm sorry, I'm being selfish."

Carl Grimes is saying sorry to me? What?

"Um," I say awkwardly, "no I'm sorry, your mom just died and I'm being insensitive."

I give him a half smile and hope to see his blue eyes look back up at me.

They don't.

My smile turns to a frown and I leave without another word. I go outside and find Rick leaving with dearly as some others.

"I'm coming with you," I say to them all.

"No," Daryl says sternly, "You're just a kid, stay back at the prison, and, don't do anything stupid when we're gone."

Daryl's turning into a father figure for me, and I'm not sure how to react about it. It seems like he's doing it subconsciously, though.

I turn away, thinking about stowing away before Daryl says, "and don't even think about trying to come with us. It won't be safe."

I laugh to myself. Since when is life now safe anymore. I walk off into my cell, where a notepad and pencil awaits me. I didn't really need to bring them with me, but I figured I needed something to entertain me in this new lifestyle. I flip through the pages, seeing what I used to draw. I was always told my drawing skills were good, and not to seem like a narcissist,

I kind of agreed with them. I've been practicing my drawing skills since I was eight years old, I took a few classes and it really did pay off.

I decide to draw my sister, Rose. Unlike me, she had blond hair. So I drew lighter where her hair was. It was down to the middle of her back. I drew her with the little stuffed bear she loved so much. Rose had a floral dress on, and wore brown shoes. Her little arms wrapped around the bear like it were her best friend.

When I feel like I'm finished with this drawing, I simply stare at it for a few moments. It looks so normal. There's no background though, I usually put one in with the main drawing by this one wouldn't look right with any background.

I feel tears sting my eyes, I really do miss them. None of them deserved to die, hell, no one does, especially not Rose. She was only five years old.

I don't know why this is happening; I just have to get through it somehow.

"Bailey?" I hear Carl call my name from outside the cell. He comes in and looks up at me at the top bunk from the ground.

"What are you doing?" He asks me.

I shove my notebook under my pillow, "nothing, really."  
He gets on the top bunk with me, "what's under here?" He reaches under my pillow and grabs my notebook. Once he opens it up a look of surprise crosses his face, then confusion. "I didn't know you could draw this well."

I shrug, trying to forget about Rose and why I was crying, "it never came up, and besides, where does an artist succeed in this world now?

"I guess so," Carl says. He examines the picture for a moment before asking, "is this your sister?"

I look down at my hands. I feel tears stream down my face.

_Don't show weakness, damnit Bailey._

I take a deep breath and look back up at Carl, "was. Was my sister. She got eaten by walkers."

"Oh," he says, giving me back my notebook, "sorry."

I rub my arm across me face, trying to rid it of tears, "no, it's fine. You were just curious. I'm just an emotional wreck."

Carl looks me straight in the eye, "shut up. No your not. Your really strong and don't take anything from anyone else. I like that about you."

_Did he just _compliment_ me?_

"Thanks," I say, not knowing what to reply to that, "I really appreciate it."

He nods and gets off my bed, "do you want to go eat?"

I tell him yes and come to follow. We walk back to Carol and Beth, who just put down Judith (the baby's new name) to bed. They were eating soup out of a can and I grabbed one from the food closet. Carl followed suite and sat down at the table across from me. Beth was next to me and Carol next to Carl.

I finished first before anyone else even thought I just got the and went over by the stairs to sit by myself. I pulled my guns out from my side and saw I was running low on bullets.

I see Hershel coming in and ask, "Hey can I refill my gun?"

"Sure," he says kindly, "The bag with everything is over in the closet, here's a key to it."

He hands me a key from his tan pants and I take them. I walk around to the closet and hear footsteps near me.

"Hey Carl," I say, knowing it was him. I unlock the door and what I see surprises me. On one side I see a whole bunch of extra guns hanging on a wall. It's all on display like, 'take me'. It's like at the shooting range, all organized and such. I took a box of bullets from a shelf and walked back out.

"What are you doing?" He asks me while a lock the door back up.  
I turn around from the door and look at him with a smile, "loading up. Do you need to as well?"

He nods, "yeah. I've been running low."

"Good," I say. We begin walking back to some stairs and sit down. "How many do you need?" I ask him as he sits down next to me and pulls his gun out. He found a silencer a while ago and still has it. I don't have one, even though I probably should.

"Just eight," he replies. I retrieve that many from the box for him and drop them in his hand.

I grab 19 bullets for my own two guns. They each held ten and I only had one left from my last fight. I fill them each one by one, until they both are all full.

I hear a girl scream from far away. It startles me and I look up, "who was that?"

Hershel comes in, "you heard it too?"

"Was it Beth or carol?" I ask.

Hershel shakes his head, "no it sounded like they were inside, and they are outside on watch."

"It's probably a person," I say, "they might've gotten in the same way the walkers do."

"I'm going to check it out," Carl says as he gets up from the chair.  
Hershel shoots his idea down though, "no you shouldn't."

Carl doesn't give up, "it's what my dad would do if he were here."  
There's a small silence after that. Hershel finally says, "fine, but at least take Bailey with you."

I smile to that.

**Authors note: DID ANYONE SEE THE LAST EPISODE WITH CARL AND RICK BADASSLY KILLING ZOMBIES!? wow, that was just amazing... Sorry for not updating in a while. yeah I know it doesn't seem that realistic with her not mourning over her parents, but I tried to base Bailey off of me because when I'm sad I certainly don't show it in front my friends or anyone I just shove it in the back of my mind for later.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead**

Carl and I begin walking down a narrow dark and dank hallway; we both silently wonder who the girl who screamed was. I have the flashlight in my hand, while Carl keeps his gun up, just in case of walkers. We turn left down a hall and find a door ajar.

"What do you think?" I ask, keeping the flashlight on the door. Suddenly I hear a walker behind me, when I turn around it's too late for me to get my gun out and stab it. I close my eyes waiting to get bit but hear a gunshot and whip my head around to see Carl's gun up.

"Thanks," I say, curving my lips into a smile, "I owe you-,"

We hear a woman moaning. The both of us run behind the door and see a whole group trying to take out walkers.

I look at Carl briefly and we both agree silently to help them. I pull my gun out and shoot two walkers trying to get a larger black guy while Carl took out one trying to get on a girl who had a shovel as a weapon.

The group looked at us, confused, and I yelled, "Let's go!"

One person carries a girl who I immediately notice has a bite on her arm. I ignore it for now because walkers begin to chase us. We get back into the hallways where Carl shot the walker trying to get me, and the man holding the bit girl falls over.

"Go!" He says. We stop and the group starts taking out walkers. Carl and I help shoot them.

"You have to leave her!" Carl shouts at the black man trying to pick up the woman who was now passed out.

"No," the guy says, he punches a walker to get it away from him. I thought it was a risky move, but we didn't have time to think about that right now.

We ran as fast as we could until we got to the cell block. Carl opened the door, and the group we found was helping lay the bit woman on the ground.

I walk around to see the woman and notice her eyes open at an unnatural length. They were not blinking. Carl puts his gun to her head to shoot her but the black man tries to stop Carl.

"She doesn't have that much time left," I say for Carl.

The woman with the shovel bombards us with questions, "who are you? How did you get in here? Who are you with?"

In reply, I say, "I'm Bailey, this is Carl, we have a group that cleared out this place and now we live in it-"

Carl interrupts me, "look we can help you, but first-"

"We take care of our own," the man next to the bitten woman says darkly. He turns around and hastily takes a meat cleaver from the smaller man behind him.

The white man kneeling next to the girl pleads, "no tyreese, please don't," his words are filled with sorrow I'm families with.

I take Carl's hand and walk out. He grabs the keys from his pocket and locks the group inside. I watch them grieve from the door. Beth comes up and looks at Carl and me with a surprised expression.

"I don't know, we just stumbled upon them," I whisper to Beth after she asked why they were here.

The woman with the shovel comes to the door after we locked it.

"Come in let us out," she demands.

"Can't," Carl replies shortly. The woman is angered by this and bangs on the cell door. I look behind me and see Hershel on crutches coming in. The woman keeps trying to make us let her in when tyreese places a hand on her should and calms her down.

"This is the best place we've had in days," tyreese looks straight into her eyes. They seem like a bit more than friends to me. "We have other things to take care of," he says and looks at the bitten dead girl. He looks and us now and says, "We don't want to cause any trouble."

I nod at them, and they walk off back to the others. There's a silence between us for a moment.

"Shouldn't we help them?" Beth asks, still looking at tyreese.

"We did," I say. I walk off alone to my cell, passing Hershel along the way. My cell was cold, as usual. I sat on the bottom bunk for a bit and took a short nap.

My eyes open reluctantly when I awake. Not knowing how long I was sleeping, I get up and head into the area where we generally eat. I hear Judith cry, and take it upon myself to go and check it out. Judith is crying softly in a crib. I pull her out of her crib and hold her close. She reminds me of when Rose was this small. I smile when Judith begins giggling in my arms.

Walking back to where Hershel was, I see Carl coming in and walk with him.

"What did you do to make Judith all happy?" Carl asks me with a small smile gracing his face.

"I don't know," I shrug, "I guess I'm just good with babies."

We walk in the room and I see black woman come up behind me.

"How old is the baby?" She asks.

"A little over a week," I say, looking into Judith's blue eyes. They look just like Carl's eyes.

"To be honest I never thought we'd ever see another baby," she says. She changes her gaze up to me, "how are you feeling?"

I stutter and a blush creeps up on my face, "oh-, uh, she's not mine."

"Where's her mother?" She asks Hershel. I feel Carl tense up beside me and give him an apologetic look. No one says anything, and she seems to get the idea, "I'm sorry."

Carl walked out of the room quickly, and I went to follow him. I walked as fast as I could with Judith in my arms.

"Carl," I said, catching up to him and slowing down, "you okay?"

He looks at me, his blue eyes glistening. I adjust Judith so I only hold her with one arm, and use the other to put around Carl. I guess this is a hug of sorts. He uses his arm to wipe off his face, and I let go.

"Remember that walker from earlier?" I say quietly, not knowing where I was going with this.

"The one that almost bit you?" Carl raises a brow, "it would've killed you if I wasn't there."

"Yeah," I agree, "and do you remember me saying I owe you?"

He nods, "what about it?"

I lean in and kiss his lips briefly. They're soft and warm. When I pull back his expression is priceless!

He looks surprised at first, but soon his face turns a beet red and he dips his head down so his hat covers his face.

After realizing what I had just done, my cheeks flared in embarrassment and I turned around to leave but Carl caught my free hand. It was warm and comforting, wait what am I thinking what has gotten into me?!

"I'm sorry," I say quickly, "I don't know where that came from."

"It's fine, Bailey," he says, still not looking me in the eyes. I liked the way he said my name. Was that weird? Oh god, what's wrong with me? I run away into the hall and Judith begins to cry. I bounce her up and down and head to her crib and feed her. I take a bottle and place it into her mouth gently. She stopped whining and drank the formula fast. When she was done I saw Carl walk into the room. Holding Judith so I could burp her, I pat her back a few times. She burps once but then pukes all over my plaid shirt.

"Shit!" I yell. Carl laughs at the beige chunky puke on my shirt.

**Authors note: wow I am so sorry for not updating in a month. I've been really busy and stuff and just haven't had the time to do this. I hope you all can forgive me!**


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